Chapter 31 #2
The din of chatter in the bar relaxed me.
I’d spent hours with Drew, Eric, and Sutton talking about what we needed to do to move forward.
We were forbidden from talking about the situation with anyone outside of the four of us.
The truth was, I didn’t want to talk to anyone else about what we’d discovered, anyway.
Though we were pretty damn sure, we still needed a full confirmation before we decided what to do about Owen completely.
There was so much to think about that my head had begun to hurt, and I had a full headache by the time Drew and Eric left with Sutton.
I chose to go into the bar, where Deeks was giving Kenny a hard time about locking doors, and Tate and Rubin were talking smack to one another as they played pool.
Moose was content behind the bar in his usual, quiet stoicism, just watching and laughing like the friendly giant he was.
He slipped me a beer over the counter, and he winked when he pulled his other hand away, revealing a pile of headache pills.
These men looked after me as much as I looked after them, and after a day of hell, I finally started to settle down again and feel happy surrounded by my unconventional family. Especially as Owen was nowhere to be seen.
Kenny finally got tired of Deeks’ constant ribbing and dropped into a stool next to mine, grabbing the beer that Moose slid over the surface to him.
“I’m never going to fucking live it down, am I?”
“Nope.” There was no point in sugar coating it. The guys still made the ‘V’ with their fingers and flicked their tongues in the gap when he entered a room, and I couldn’t see an end to that. At least not until someone did something more stupid.
“You can’t help me out?”
I swung my head in his direction and raised my eyebrows in question. “And why would I do that?”
“C’mon Ayda. If not for me, for Sloane.”
“Kenny, I don’t think you really get it. Every guy in here had his face buried between a woman’s legs at some point during the night. Believe me, I know because I’ve seen it. Your problem started because you boasted about being able to wait until she’s eighteen. Bragging on how you’re a gentleman.”
“We haven’t fucked,” he said, draining half his beer. “I’m still waiting.”
I shook my head. “That’s like saying women can’t get pregnant if you pull out.”
Kenny started to laugh. The look of guilt on his face telling me he’d used that line more than once in his lifetime. That didn’t surprise me in the slightest. He was a smooth talker when he wanted to be.
“You men,” I grumbled playfully. “Have you ever told a woman that being taken anally doesn’t mean she’s losing her virginity, too?”
“No, but thanks for the tip.” Kenny polished off his beer and made a three-point shot into the closest trashcan before holding up his hand to Moose, who quite happily obliged him. “Hey, Moose! You ever told a chick anal ain’t the same as losing her virginity?”
Before Moose could respond, a hand came from nowhere and slapped Kenny on the back of his head, forcing his body to rock forward.
“You’re in the company of a lady, you ignorant little dipshit.” Deeks huffed, pushing Kenny from his stool and parking his ass there. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
“I don’t see any ladies around here, Deeks. Just Ayda.” Kenny punched Deeks in the arm and danced out of reach before Deeks could smack him back. Not to be outdone, Deeks grabbed an empty soda can from the bar and flung it at Kenny as he retreated to the boys over at the pool table.
“I’ll smack him around later,” Deeks said with a chuckle, taking the beer meant for Kenny and handing it to me. He swiped the warm one from my hand and trashed it. “When you gonna give the boy his bike back?”
“No beating around the bush then?” I snorted.
“It’s been days.”
“I told him two weeks. I can move it if—”
“Don’t get your feelings hurt, sweetheart. I just hate seeing that kid mope. Since… well, he’s had a hard time of it. We all have.”
“And he’s gotten away with it for too long. Did he tell you why I confiscated his bike?”
Deeks looked at me, his ruddy cheeks pinking. Yeah, Tate had told him.
“Did he tell you he’s been suspended for a few games, which will be reinstated at the beginning of next season? That he’s on academic probation?”
“Point made.”
I smiled. “Just trying to imply some consequences.”
“Rightly so.” Deeks looked across to where Rubin, Tate, and Kenny were locked in conversation before he yelled out to them. “Tater Tot, you failed to mention the game suspensions, kid. I got money on that homecoming game.”
The song on the jukebox was suddenly the only sound in the place. Tate looked around and met my eyes. Apparently, Deeks wasn’t the only one with a bet on the Bulldogs’ games.
I started to laugh. I couldn’t help myself. Tate had fucked himself over in a way I could never have.
“You know what, Deeks? I may give him his bike back after all.”
“Why’d you go an’ do that?”
“He’s going to have to get away from y’all’s grumbling somehow.”
“He can wash my bike for a month.”
“With a toothbrush,” Moose added.
I started laughing again.
These were the times I loved most being in The Hut; when the guys I’d come to love surrounded me.
These guys were a large part of my world.
They were my family, and they were being threatened by one of their own.
I couldn’t allow that on my watch. This was my life now, and I would do anything to protect it and the people in it. Even from one of their own.